I stopped reading it cause I felt lost, the reason I am asking is this, if PF was so cool why it has not been adopted by Solaris or Linux tell now like what happened with ZFS *every one is trying to port it right?*

As to why other router OS teams have not, your best bet would be to ask those developers. This forum is for BSD users primarily, and few developers from any OS post here.

I could guess, if you like. But all it would be is merely conjecture. I'd mention the non-advocacy culture of the OBSD project, the alternatives like IPF already being available, the lack of either awareness or interest on the part of other OS teams..... But like most OBSD users, I don't care very much. If I need a router or a bridge, I choose OpenBSD.

If I need a large Oracle engine, I choose Solaris or AIX. If I need a smartphone I choose Linux.

But if reality is any indication, look at the lag in PF versions found in both FreeBSD & NetBSD. Even though the network stacks are similar, porting PF is not a trivial matter, & I suspect that this is the general answer to your question -- very few engineers exist who have the knowledge, time, & desire to port it.

Secondly, it is important to focus on the tight binding between PF & the network stack. FreeBSD & NetBSD are at least close in fundamental structure in network stacks to OpenBSD. Solaris has long diverged from its FreeBSD roots. I suspect (but this is conjecture as well...) that it would be very difficult to shoehorn PF onto Solaris' network stack. Again, someone would have to possess the knowledge, time, & desire to port PF.

The other side of tight binding is that PF & OpenBSD's network stack are evolving/melding together more & more. Who is the say that PF's structure would be efficient on another network stack? I suspect (& this is conjecture too...) that the optimum packet filtering functionality for a network stack is specific to that stack. Yes, code can be written to be generic, but performance will likely degrade as a result.

Lastly, Sun is no longer. Oracle is calling the shots, & I suspect there is still upheaval going on following the merger. What is the value of having PF on Solaris? If porting is not likely to generate measurable sales, I suspect (again, conjecture...) there is little desire to port PF.

Sun is no longer. Oracle is calling the shots, & I suspect there is still upheaval going on following the merger. What is the value of having PF on Solaris? If porting is not likely to generate measurable sales, I suspect (again, conjecture...) there is little desire to port PF.

I was suspecting an answer like this, so in software business it's not about how cool an app is, it's about the demand for it; and since SUN|Oracle is dominant now *as is* I do not anticipate *soon* that a developer some where will pop on the grid of software development map and say hey, let's add this cool feature to our system cause for them if it do not mean more money or a better place then to hell with it!.

Because of the tight binding of pf with the OS network stack mentioned by ocicat and BSDfan666, my conjecture is that "porting pf to Linux" (for example) might end up being more like porting Linux to pf. I kinda don't see that happening.

IPFW was ported to Linux, along with DummyNet. So it wouldn't be impossible to port PF.

Considering how often they change the packet filter in Linux, I wouldn't discount it from happening. Of course, Linux devs have THE worst case of NIH syndrome that I highly doubt they would even consider it. (FreeBSD devs ported IPFW, for example.)

I stopped reading it cause I felt lost, the reason I am asking is this, if PF was so cool why it has not been adopted by Solaris or Linux tell now like what happened with ZFS *every one is trying to port it right?*

I am not bashing PF, I am just asking out of curiosity

Thanks in advance

I am not developer, not programmer and my education has nothing with computers. On the market are three major OS:
Windows
Mac OS
Linux

The BSDs are not important for the market. And it is a true. Just look what happened with Xfce, KDE 4.6 and who know wha GNOME 3 will bring.
Where are drivers for BSD? Flash for BSD?
FreeBSD has a Linux layer because users want a flash which is not native for BSD, many games..., web cameras...

And if you are looking "wars" between Linux and BSD users, plus Theo Radt talkings about Linux...what do you expect? Do you expect that Linux developers port PF? I don't.